Made in China porcelain for British royal wedding

BEILIU, China (Reuters Life!) - A Chinese porcelain manufacturing company has won the order to make the official tableware to be used at the British royal wedding of Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton.

Guangxi Sanhuan Group, based in Beiliu, a city in China's southern Guangxi province known locally for its ceramics and porcelain ware, said they came out tops over more than 500 companies bidding to produce royal wedding porcelain, fighting off stiff competition from manufacturers around the globe.

The company is now taxed with producing some 16,000 porcelain tableware products to be used at the wedding.

Company officials said the products are divided into five categories including a dining plate, a coffee cup and saucer set, a commemorative mug and a souvenir plate. They will be either used at the wedding or given to wedding guests as souvenirs.

The design is generally a uniform one featuring a photograph of Prince William and Kate Middleton inside a heart shape with the words "William and Catherine" written below.

"When we won the order, our company bosses were very happy and excited," said Gary Qiu, a marketing manager for the Guangxi Sanhuan Group.

"They paid great attention to it. The entire production process including its preparation was worked on a very tight schedule. Also, we used one of the most advanced kilns in China to make these products."

Established in 1987, Guangxi Sanhuan is a modern Chinese success story -- a once state-owned company that has now gone private, tailoring a reputation of being a quality manufacturer for ceramics and porcelain over the last decade.
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